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Friday November 10, 2006

Shorts: Mideast

Olmert tops corruption list

(jta) | Ehud Olmert came first in a survey ranking Israeli government ministers the public considers corrupt.

Forty-two percent of those polled for the survey, which was published Wednesday, Nov. 8 at the annual Sderot Conference on the Economy, named the Israeli prime minister as the “most corrupt Cabinet member.” He was followed by the minister for strategic threats, Avigdor Lieberman, who took 26 percent, and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who took 23 percent.

Olmert, who ranked 7th in the poll last year when he was deputy prime minister, has been dogged by corruption allegations since winning the top office in March elections. He has denied wrongdoing.

Asked which Cabinet minister they believe has the most integrity, 38 percent of respondents said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and 35 percent said Vice Premier Shimon Peres.

Rights group says Palestinian women are being abused

(jta) | The Palestinian Authority has no effective framework to respond to violence against women and girls, Human Rights Watch reported Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Releasing “A Question of Security: Violence Against Palestinian Women and Girls,” the group said it interviewed dozens of victims of violence in the West Bank and Gaza, often at the hands of a family member. “Their accounts confirm the seriousness and scope of the problem, on issues ranging from spousal and child abuse to rape, incest, and ‘honor’ crimes,” the report summary stated.

The group concluded that the blame lay in “discriminatory laws that condone and perpetuate such violence and the virtual absence of institutionalized policies to prevent violence, assist victims, and hold perpetrators accountable.”

Media quoted Palestinian spokesmen as blaming the chaos in Palestinian-ruled areas for the violence. The report says that Israeli attacks on Palestinian areas during the intifada weakened Palestinian institutions, but adds, “This is no excuse for inaction.”

Knesset voting on 2007 budget

jerusalem (jps) | The 2007 budget came before the Knesset on Tuesday, Nov. 7 for its first reading.

All coalition factions announced earlier that they would vote in favor of the budget; however, most had reservations about some of the sections.

Knesset member Sarah Marom of the Pensioners Party said that if the Finance Ministry didn’t revoke a section calling to freeze budgetary allowances for the elderly, her party would vote against the budget in future readings.

Knesset member Ophir Paz-Pines of the Labor Party, meanwhile, announced that he accepted his party’s position of voting in favor, but sought an increase in the research and development budget.

Israel readies for new war

jerusalem (jta) | Israel reportedly is preparing for the possibility of another war with Hezbollah, this time joined by Syria.

Citing assessments among top military brass, Ha’aretz reported Monday, Nov. 6 that Israeli forces are on alert for a fresh fight initiated by the Lebanese militia and its Syrian patrons in the summer of 2007. According to the report, Hezbollah is believed to have come out of its recent war with Israel with more than 5,000 ground-to-ground missiles intact.

In case of such a conflict next year, Iran would likely provide Hezbollah and Syria with backing but not get directly involved, Ha’aretz reported. Military officials declined to comment on the report.

Sharon out of intensive care

tel hashomer (jta) | Ariel Sharon was moved out of intensive care and back to an Israeli coma ward.

Sheba Medical Center announced Monday, Nov. 6 that the former prime minister, who was taken for emergency surveillance over the weekend after developing an infection, had been returned to his bed.

“His heart function has improved after being treated for an infection and his overall condition has stabilized,” the hospital said in a statement. Sharon, 78, has been in a coma since suffering a stroke in January.

Google expands Israeli recruitment

tel aviv (jta) | Internet search engine Google, based in Mountain View, is ramping up its recruitment activities and preparing for growth at its local centers after announcing the opening of its second Israel-based Engineering Center in Tel Aviv.

“We want to send the message that we are here to hire, to grow and that everyone who feels they are a fit with Google should know there is an opportunity to join us,” said Yossi Matias, director of Google’s Tel Aviv engineering center at a press conference Nov. 2.

U.N. clears Israel on weapons charges

(jta) | The United Nations cleared Israel of allegations that it used uranium weapons during the Lebanon war.

The U.N. Environment Program said Tuesday, Nov. 7 that its investigators had found no evidence that Israel used uranium-based radioactive weaponry during the conflict with Hezbollah over the summer.

A British newspaper suggested in an investigative report last month that Israeli forces had used such weaponry at two attack sites, a charge rejected by military officials. 

‘Chained’ women speak out

jerusalem (jta) | Jewish women whose husbands refused them a divorce gathered here to tell their stories.

The testimonies, given at a gathering Tuesday, Nov. 7, were originally scheduled to coincide with a major rabbinical conference on the subject of agunot in Jerusalem.

But when the conference was canceled because of pressure from within the fervently religious world, the organizers of the shadow conference went ahead with their gathering anyway.

The women who spoke out are being assisted by Mevoi Satum, an Israeli group that advocates for agunot.

In recent years, rabbinical courts in Israel have made it increasingly difficult for women to obtain gets, or Jewish divorces, said Rachel Azaria, director of Mevoi Satum, which means dead end in Hebrew.

Most women who seek legal assistance from the organization eventually do receive gets, some of them after decades of trying, she said.

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